Coast Guard rescues 2 aboard sailboat south of Cape Hatteras, NC

HATTERAS, N.C. – The U.S. Coast Guard rescued two people aboard a sailboat 13 miles south of Cape Hatteras.

Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders in Wilmington received notification that the 43-foot sailboat Nanette had a fouled propeller due to heavy weather conditions and was requesting assistance at 6 a.m.

The Coast Guard responded by sending a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat (MLB) crew from Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet, a C-130 Hercules aircrew and an MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City and the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Rollin Fritch.

Air Station Elizabeth City air crews provided visual assistance as the MLB crew towed the sailboat through heavy weather conditions. The crew of cutter Rollin Fritch met the MLB crew and switched the tow, towing the sailboat to Beaufort Inlet where a TowBoatUS crew took over the tow. The TowBoatUS crew towed the Nanette to Portside Marina in Morehead City.

No injuries or pollution were reported.

“It’s amazing how the different units of the Coast Guard can work together to assist mariners in distress,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph Habel, coxswain of Station Hatteras Inlet’s MLB. “From our air crews relaying storm information to our boat crews, to our local watchstanders working with Sector North Carolina, many assets came together to rescue the Nanette in stormy waters.”